Apple amaretti cake

Soft, delicious apple dessert with juicy slices of fruit in soft cake topped with a light crunch from amaretti that tastes like heaven...

Apple amaretti cake
adapted from Ho Voglia di Dolce
time: 20 min preparation / 50 min baking / 30 min cooling

ingredients
3 medium/large apples
juice from 1 lemon
3 eggs, room temperature
150 g (2/3 cup) brown sugar + 1 Tablespoons for finishing
45 ml (3 Tablespoons) whisky
120 g (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled
160 ml (2/3 cup) milk (I used almond)
400 ml (1 2/3 cup) flour (I used whole spelt)
50 g (5 Tablespoons) potato starch
8 g (2 teaspoons) baking powder
100 g (3.5 oz) amaretti cookies, crushed with your hands (set about 1/3 aside for topping)

method
Preheat oven to 180C/360F (static function). Line a 26 cm (10 inch) baking form with parchment paper. To line a baking dish: I cut a piece of paper large enough, crush it between my hands, soak it under water, squeeze the water out, shake (gently) the paper to open and line the dish.

Peal and slice apples in thin wedges. Spray them with lemon juice and set aside.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, potato starch and baking powder.

In a bowl of a standing mixer, beat eggs with sugar and whisky till pale and foamy (whisk attachment/high speed/5 min). Lower mixer's speed to "stir". Slowly pour in butter, milk. Then add flour mix and let the mixer run till ingredients are just incorporated (and not any longer). Turn the machine off. Using a rubber spatula slowly incorporate apples and cookies (leave little quantities of both for topping). Pour it into the prepared form. Top the apple batter with the leftover apples slices, amaretti and brown sugar.

Set it in the hot oven for about 50 min till golden and the toothpick from the middle comes out clean.
Remove from the oven, let it cool in the form for 30 minutes.

notes

• the original recipe asked for Amaretto liqueur which I didn't have so I added some whisky instead;
• the flavors turned out perfectly balanced, nothing was overpowering and everything so delicious that this cake will come down in the history as one of the fastest "to-be-gone" in this family.